People often find the need to capture random thoughts throughout the day, wherever they may be. Without an appropriate capturing device at their disposal, these thoughts can be forgotten or remembered too late.
The simplest solution to this unfulfilled need of on-the-go note taking combines a notepad and a writing instrument in one convenient package. Examples of prior art include paper-holding pens such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,775 to Chang (1989), U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,048 to Thomas et al. (1990), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,864 to Walsh (2001).
Each of these references discloses a conventional-sized pen, approximately 6 inches in length, which contain a roll of note papers within the body of the pen. Two distinct disadvantages of this type of solution are 1) not having an included surface onto which one can lay the note and write and 2) having to carry a standard-sized pen, which is not convenient in some circumstances.
Different types of notepad holders with writing instruments have been proposed, but each has its limitations. Two examples of prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,457 (1983) to Gassner and U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,519 to Kaplan (2003). Gassner's invention contains a notepad within a flexible folded holder, and the writing instrument is attached by means of a pen clip to the outside edge of the holder. Kaplan's invention contains several plastic components, which make up a rigid notepad case with an integrated pen. Both of these designs suffer from a number of disadvantages:
a) Both devices are somewhat bulky. If one were to store either one of these in his pocket, the large size would compete for pocket space with other items such as a phone, wallet, and keys. Similarly, either device would consume a large amount of real estate in a purse or bag. Neither design lends itself to being thin enough to fit into small spaces, such as the credit card sleeve of a wallet.
b) Both housings contain multiple components, including plastic parts. The materials and number of components make the manufacturing of these devices relatively expensive.
c) In Kaplan's design, the integrated pen is not conducive to being user-friendly. In order to write a note, one must first remove a note (or entire notepad) from the device and grip the entire case in one's hand to use the pen. Not only is writing awkward and unintuitive, but one cannot use the case as a writing surface concurrently because the case is rigidly attached to the pen.
Another example of prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,213 (1998) to Chatterton. This device is comprised of a rigid plastic credit card-sized holder, which holds a small custom pen. This invention has several distinct disadvantages:
a) The device is made of plastic, which requires expensive capital tooling, and the material cost is high compared to that of paper.
b) The device needs adequate wall thickness, about 0.040″, to maintain a rigid form. This increases the overall thickness of the device, especially around the pen. In contrast, sturdy paper is as thin as 0.010″.
c) The rigidity of such a device in a wallet sleeve would make the entire wallet more rigid. Since many wallet-carrying people, particularly males, hold their wallets in a pants pocket, the wallet would be less likely to deform and adapt to varying loads (i.e. sitting on it in a back pocket), making it uncomfortable.
d) The printable space on the device is limited. Since the pen receptacle protrudes from the base section, it is more difficult and expensive to print on the surface of this base section.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a notepad holder with writing instrument which is practical and convenient, which is easily stored in a pocket, purse, wallet, or other small space, which is simple and easy to use, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which will present a large surface for the reception of graphics, including company logos, business card information, artwork, comics, text, etc.